Twenty-five foreign hostages escape Algeria siege -source

ALGIERS, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Twenty-five foreign hostages,including two Japanese, escaped from the siege of a gas plantdeep in the Algerian desert on Thursday, an Algerian securitysource said.

A group calling itself the "Batallion of Blood" has said itwas holding 41 foreigners inside the gas compound, which itstormed on Wednesday, demanding France halt a military campaignagainst Islamist rebels in neighbouring Mali.